How Iron Mountain Helps New Registries Navigate the New TLD Program by Shane Ryan

This guest blog post comes from Raymond King, CEO of Top Level Design, the registry for .wiki, .ink, and .design. Top Level Design originally applied for 10 new gTLDs, of which three remain in contention.

When ICANN opened the application period for what would become the largest Internet expansion to date, I knew I wanted to be part of it. I have been fascinated by the domain name industry since I started SnapNames in 2000 and have continued to be involved in the ICANN space via the ICANNWIKI Project. Through the New TLD Program, new registries had the chance to introduce Internet users to unique and exciting naming options. My company, Top Level Design, submitted 10 applications for new TLD strings, including .wiki, .ink, .design, .art, .gay, .llc, .style, .photography, .blog, and .group.

Stepping Into Uncharted Territory as a New TLD Registry

However, becoming a new TLD registry was stepping into uncharted territory, despite my familiarity with the industry. Along with the amazing opportunities created by running the .wiki, .ink, and .design registries, came the complex range of technical and legal requirements (some of which are still evolving) specified by our registry agreement with ICANN. Among them are our obligations around data escrow.

Data escrow is a critical registry function. Data Escrow Agents (DEAs), like Iron Mountain, allow registries to store data securely to prevent the loss of registrant information in the case of an emergency, such as registry technical failure. ICANN's data escrow provisions underscore the importance of taking such steps, and as a registry, one of our top priorities is protecting our customers and ensuring the stability of the DNS.

How Iron Mountain Made it Simple

I've known the folks over at Iron Mountain for a long time (full disclosure: they also currently sponsor ICANNWIKI!). I enjoy seeing them at ICANN meetings and working with them is always a pleasure. In addition to having great people, Iron Mountain is a well-established, international escrow firm, with years of domain name industry experience, not to mention their expertise in data and software escrow. Needless to say, when it came time for Top Level Design to look for a Data Escrow Agent, Iron Mountain was at the top of my list.

And I wasn't alone: Iron Mountain has been selected as the designated Data Escrow Agent for over 800 TLDs.1 Onboarding was easy and straightforward, and Iron Mountain's registry data escrow support team is responsive and helpful. On the few occasions that we have received ICANN inquiries regarding our data escrow deposits, Iron Mountain was timely in helping us resolve the issues at hand and worked efficiently with CentralNic, our backend technical provider, to make the necessary service adjustments.

Partnering with Iron Mountain gives me the highest level of confidence that whatever happens, our registry data will be safe and meet all ICANN-required specifications. With Iron Mountain covering our data escrow requirements, my team and I are free to focus on our growing registry business.

References:

1http://icannwiki.com/Iron_Mountain

LINK:	http://blogs.ironmountain.com/2015/service-lines/technology-escrow/how...
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